HobbsDailyReport.com
WINNINGHAM
HICKORY – Back-to-back two-out hits in the ninth inning got Columbia (S.C.) past Hickory 4-3 on Sunday, but the Crawdads are still in first place.
J.J. Franco doubled with two outs in the ninth inning and Dash Winningham scored him with a single to break a 3-all tie as 2,025 fans watched at L.P. Frans Stadium.
Matt Blackham got three groundball outs in the bottom of the ninth — earning his seventh save of the season – as the Fireflies improved to 67-64 overall.
Hickory (63-70, 36-27 second half) hung on to its one-game lead over Greensboro in the South Atlantic League (SAL) Northern Division because Rome (Ga.) nipped the visiting Grasshoppers 2-0 on Sunday.
West Virginia, at 34-29, is two games back of the Crawdads after beating Hagerstown (Md.) 2-1 on Sunday in Charleston, W. Va.
REMAINING GAMES
Tuesday, 7:05 p.m.: at Charleston, S.C.
Wednesday, 7:05 p.m.: at Charleston, S.C.
Thursday, 6:35 p.m.: at Charleston, S.C.
Friday, 7 p.m.: Greensboro
Saturday, 7 p.m.: Greensboro
Sunday, 5 p.m.: Greensboro
Next Monday, 1 p.m.: Greensboro
Franco went 3-for-4, Quinn Brodey was 3-for-5 with a triple and RBI and Winningham went 2-for-5 to lead Columbia, which had 10 hits.
The Crawdads had nine hits, led by Leody Taveras, Alex Kowlaczky and Andretty Cordero with two each.
Columbia scored twice in the first inning when Luis Carpio and Franco singled and Brodey had a two-run triple.
Hickory tied it in the bottom of the first inning. Blaine Prescott singled and Taveras and Kowlaczyk had run-scoring doubles for a 2-all tie.
Jay Jabs’ RBI single in the fourth inning put the Fireflies ahead 3-2, but Hickory tied it with a run in the fifth inning. Taveras singled and took second base on a passed ball then scored on a hit by Anderson Tejeda.
Franco and Winningham came up with hits with two outs in the ninth inning to win it for Columbia.
Taylor Henry — the third Fireflies pitcher — got a win after pitching one inning.
Reliever Jacob Lemoine (3-3) took the loss, going two innings. He gave up two hits, a run (earned), walked one and struck out two.
The Crawdads are off on Monday and start a three-game series at Charleston (S.C.) on Tuesday night.
Hickory’s final regular-season series begins Friday, against Greensboro, at L.P. Frans Stadium.
If the Crawdads and Grasshoppers end up tied, the second half title – and a postseason berth – will belong to Greensboro by winning percentage (it has two games that were rained out that will not be made up).
For Sunday’s boxscore, click on the link below.
http://www.milb.com/milb/stats/stats.jsp?gid=2017_08_27_colafx_hicafx_1&t=g_box&did=milb&sid=t448